Dyrrachium Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Günümüzde Arnavutların dinî yapısına bakıldığında, halkın çoğunluğunun Müslümanlardan oluştuğu görülse de, İslâm dinini benimsemeden önce ekseriyetle Hıristiyan inancına sahip idiler. Bu konu kapsamında yapılan bazı çalışmalarda Arnavutların Hıristiyanlık ile ilgili ilk temaslarının Aziz Pavlus ile başladığı ifade edilmektedir. Bu iddiayı öne sürenler, Aziz Pavlus’un Hıristiyan mesajını diğer milletlere duyurmak üzere yapmış olduğu seyahatlerinden biri olan “Roma’ya Yolculukları” esnasında Arnavutluk’un Dyrrhachium (Durrës) ve Apollonia şehirlerine uğrayarak Hıristiyan inancını yaydığı sonucuna varmışlardır. Bu görüş her ne kadar Arnavut Kiliseleri tarafından şiddetle savunuluyor ise de arkeolojik Hıristiyan kalıntılarının en erken IV.-VI. yüzyıllara ait olması ve yaptığımız çalışmalar sonucu Aziz Pavlus’un günümüz Arnavutluk’un sınırları içerisine girmediğini göstermektedir. Ancak Aziz Pavlus bizzat Arnavutluk’ta bulunmamış olsa da Hıristiyan merkezleri olan “Dyrrhachium (Durrës), Apollonia, Aulon (Avlonya), Pulcheriopolis (Berat) gibi piskoposluklardan İznik, Efes, Kadıköy ve İstanbul gibi ekümenik konsillere Arnavutluk’tan piskopos katılımının gerçekleşmiş olması, hem bu inancın erken bir tarihte Arnavutlar arasında yayıldığını hem de hızlı bir şekilde yayıldığını göstermektedir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: İllirikum/Arnavutluk, Aziz Pavlus’un Seyahatleri, Hıristiyanlığın Yayılması, Dyrrachium (Durrës), Arnavut Kilisesi.
Although it is historically one of the oldest and most indigenous nation of the Balkans, it can be said that Albania, today a small country in terms of geography and population, has historically served as a bridge linking East and West in social, cultural, religious and administrative terms. When it comes to religion, even though nowadays Albanians are mostly Muslims, most of them had Christian beliefs before adopting Islam. This topic has attracted the attention of many authors and researchers. The majority of the authors claimed that the origin of the Christianity in the Albanian regions should be attributed to the time of apostolicism, linking it to St. Paul's journeys to Rome. However, it is difficult to say that the first contact of the Albanians with the Christian faith began in the period of the apostleship, and this seems to be the main reason of disagreements between Albanian and foreign researchers.
There are two arguments used by those claiming that the origin of Christianity in the Albanian regions extends to the apocalyptic period. The first one was St. Paul's statement in the Holly Bible's “Romans passages” of 15/18-19:
“For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ”.
St. Paul’s “from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” statement made the Albanian Orthodoxies and Catholic Christians as well as the majority of researchers to claim that Christianity existed in Albania from the first century. Related to this, it is obvious that they even pretend that St. Paul has used the famous road of Via Egnatia during his journey to Rome, passing through Dyrrhachium (Durrës), one of the most important Albanian cities of that period. It is also claimed that while in Durres, he appointed Saint Caesar/Qezar as archbishop.
The second basis of their argument is the name of the city of Apollonia mentioned in the Holly Bible. The “After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue” (Acts, 17/1) passage was used as an argument for claiming that Saint Paul has come to Apollonia in Albania and spread Christianity. However, it is understood that there is a misunderstanding resulting from the similarity of the Apollonia name. It is not the Albanian Apollonia, but the Apollonia of today's Greece that is mentioned in the statement above. These two cities are geographically far from each other. Thus, claiming’s on the arrival of St. Paul in nowadays Albania and the spreading of the Christianity by him remain very weak due to the lack of any basis or any concrete evidence of archaeological relic. Neither there is any St. Paul's statement like “I have delivered the gospel of Jesus in Illyricum” nor is it given to us by the second or third person in the form of “St. Paul delivered the gospel of Jesus in Illyricum”. Thus, all these information’s are nothing but an indication that Paul himself did not spread the Christian faith in nowadays Albania. Nevertheless, it can easily be said that Christianity is spreaded at an early date and in a quickly way, while this is true for the big cities of Albania at least. Participation of bishops from dioceses of Dyrrhachium (Durrës), Apollonia, Aulon (Vlora), Scampa (Elbasan), Lychnidus (Ohri), Pulcheriopolis (Berat), Byllis, Amantia, Phoinike (Finiq), Onchesmos (Saranda) and Buthrotum (Butrint) to the ecumenical councils such as Iznik, Ephesus, Kadikoy and Istanbul from the) diocese as well as the archaeological Christian remains dating back to the II - VI centuries also confirm this view. The participation of many Albanian regions in the above mentioned ecumenical councils is extremely important for the Albanian church due to the fact that such a wide participation in ecumenical councils from various regions of Albania shows how fast and in a how wider geography of Albania the Christian faith was spreaded.
In this study, it has been tried to bring a different point of view to the claims put forward to the present day and at the same time to examine the subject in the light of scientific criteria and in an objective perspective. In addition, it should be noted that this study includes the period of Saint Paul and the geographical borders of nowadays Albania. In this regard; in order to be able to consider every view related to topic, efforts have been made to use relevant sources of Albanian and other languages.
Keywords: Illyricum/Albania, Saint Paul’s Journeys, Spread of Christianity, Dyrrachium (Durrës), Albanian Church.